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Monday, February 16, 2009

Pictures, pictures... and more pictures

Okay... I know it's been a while and usually Barb is behind the wheel on driving this blog, but tonight, she is playing with a new scrapbooking cutting tool thingy and I decided I would go ahead and throw some pics on here for everyone. So here we go... captions will be below each associated picture. Enjoy!



This is Matsumoto's at Hale'iwa on the North Shore, they are the most famous "Shaved Ice" spot on the whole island, and it's easy to taste why. Shaved Ice is similar; not the same, but similar, to a snow cone on the mainland. Shaved ice is much smoother and sweeter, and they seem to have full flavor throughout the ice all the way to the end... my favorite is pineapple. Note the line out the shop and around the corner... this is usual, but the line moves quickly... there are directions written outside on how to order your ice... it reminded me allot about the Seinfeld "Soup Nazi" episode. NO ICE FOR YOU!!!!


This was mine... blue was the pineapple (yum yum), yellow was banana and the red was coconut. It's allot bigger then what it appears in this picture.



This was later that evening at Sunset Beach on the North Shore, we were waiting for the expected and forecasted 20 foot waves, but as the sun set over the horizon, we only saw what I would label at best, the occasional 10-12 footer.

Okay, I know you're saying... It's a sandwich... so what? Well, I'm here to tell you it's not just a sandwich, this is a Pastrami sandwich from Giovanni Pastrami's, which is a sports bar and grill down in Waikiki... This was an awesome pastrami... Fries were great too, they had a potato type taste to them.

The day before the Pro Bowl, the NFL opened up the stadium to the public to watch the players practice. So we went. Kyle and Justin tried to get some autographs, but it didn't happen. We still had fun.





Both of these pictures are of my horrible life in Hawaii... Do you see the kind of surroundings I have to work with? I was, of course, in complete misery, standing here on the 3rd tee box of our golf course on Hickam AFB. I'm really not sure how I made it through the day. I'm going to need allot of therapy one day.... HEY! I heard that thought.





This is Freedom Tower, located in the middle of Hickam AFB, it used to be a water tower during WWII era but now it is a back drop to this vast lawn you see here... concerts and parties are coordinated on this lawn. The Freedom Tower was actually untouched during the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was a mystery as to why that was for a while. Finally it was found that the Japanese Zero pilots, assumed that the tower was a memorial to our past fallen military men and therefore out of respect, did not attack it. Nice thought by our enemies at the time, but little did they know that had they bombed it, they would have knocked out Pearl Harbor's fresh water supply; which would have been another harsh blow to us. Pretty cool story huh?





Here's another cool Pearl Harbor attack picture... see the divots in the side of the wall? Those are marks from Japanese Zero cannon fire... many of the old WWII era buildings here on Hickam and Pearl Harbor bare these scars.





This is where I work... well, not out here on the grass, but actually in the building in the left of the picture behind the trailers, the one that has the JPAC sign on the wall. I absolutely love my job! In case, some of you have not heard, I will be going on my first mission later this year to Papua New Guinea.






Okay, this is the last picture for now... this is EXACTLY why all the license plates in Hawaii have a rainbow on them. I'm not exaggerating when I say that we have seen at least one rainbow everyday we have been here. Now that's not to say we have horrible weather everyday either... far from it. It usually rains somewhere on the island once a day for a short while, but that doesn't mean it will rain where you are... I attribute the weather here very closely to that of south Florida.

Well, like I said above, that is it for now, sorry it took so long. We've been so busy between work, school, cruising in the jeep with the top down, picnic lunches on the beach... you know, the typical busy hectic life. We will be going to the opening game for the University of Hawaii's baseball team this Friday night, so, we may have some pics from that... and hopefully with any luck, this weekend we will finally get to Hanauma Bay and go snorkeling. So, be on the look out for more pictures. Mahalo for checking out our blog, and ALOHA!!!!!















Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Hello everyone,
I know it has been awhile since we have updated our blog. We moved out of temporary lodging and then we didn't have Internet until last Friday. We moved into a four bedroom house in an area call Waipahu which is basically on the other side of the Pearl Harbor. We are in a monthly lease and waiting for them to finish building our housing area so we can get a house on base. Since we moved out of lodging we haven't taken very many pictures because we have been unpacking and everything. We did go to the North Shore and took a few pictures of the waves there but not much else. I would post them here now but I am not sure what Bill has done with the camera, it may still be buried somewhere. We have unpacked everything but our room and the garage.
Kyle and Justin are liking school and they are both trying out for the track teams at their schools. This Saturday we are going to the Pro Bowl practice and the boys (especially Kyle) are hoping they will be able to go out on the field. When we reserve our seats they said that they will be letting some kids onto the field but I am not sure how they will be deciding on who they let go out there. Bill has been getting things at work in order to go to Papua New Guinea in September. And Zack and I have just been hanging out at home unpacking. Well that is about all that is going on here. I will try to find the camera and post the pics from the North Shore.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Playing on the Beach at Bellows

Looking down the beach at Bellows AFS



Burying daddy in the sand



"Hold on here comes another wave." Dillion and Zack












Boogie Boarding at Bellows AFS

Here are some pictures of us boogie boarding at Bellows AFS.



Kyle


Justin



Zack



Bill



Charity & Barbara waiting for a wave

Our trip to Bellows Beach


So last Saturday we took the top down and drove through the mountains and went to the other side of the island to Bellows Air Force Station to go to the beach there. It was a beautiful drive, the pictures do not do it justice. We played in the surf for awhile, ate some lunch and then headed back.





On the way back we took the route along the water instead of through the mountains and it was just as beautiful. We stopped at a few lookouts along the way and at one we saw a whale blowing water out his blow hole way out in the water and at another we saw some turtles swimming down by the rocks.

Bill's New Toy

So as previously posted Bill had to sell his truck before we left the mainland. But now he has a new toy.....a new 2008 Jeep Wrangler. He got everything he wanted except for the color. But he figured that the sliver still looks good even though he wanted yellow or rust orange and it had everything else he wanted. He absolutely loves it.





ALOHA

We made it here safe and sound. Sorry we didn't update sooner but we didn't have Internet until a few days ago, because of the island wide black out that happen about a week before we got here. Then when we did get it back we were busy looking for a house, going to the beach and sightseeing. But back by popular demand we are here to update you on what we have been doing.

Thursday, Jan. 1 - We arrived here and we were pick up by our friend Kevin and Chief MeCheam. They both had leis for all of us but of course we forgot about taking pictures. Chief was suppose to be Bill's boss in the Korea division of the POW/MIA but they have moved him back to the European division, but he still came and picked us up and helped us out. He has a big monster truck so the boys rode with him and loved it. After we got checked in to our lodging, which is basically a 2 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment, we went out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays with Kevin, his wife Charity and their kids (Katie, 11 and Dillion, 2) They are the people in our pictures.


Zack loved his first plane trip.

Friday, Jan. 2 - Kevin came and picked and took us to a place to eat breakfast that is right where you can watch the boats come into pearl harbor. We didn't get to see any boats come in and do not have any pictures of it because Bill forgot the camera. After we ate Kevin took us to get my car. The car made it okay with no damage or anything. Then later that night we went out to eat at a restaurant in Waikiki with Kevin and his family.






Saturday, Jan. 3 - We went to Waikiki Beach and to the pool at the Hale Koa military only hotel. Then we went back to Kevin's for a BBQ and drinks.




The rest of the week we looked at houses and drove around the area checking things out.